1972 Khulna massacres
| 1972 Khulna massacres | |
|---|---|
| Part of Persecution of Biharis in Bangladesh | |
  | |
| Location | Khulna, Bangladesh |
| Date | March 1972 |
Attack type | Massacre, ethnic cleansing |
| Deaths | 1,000–25,000 |
| Victims | Bihari civilians |
| Perpetrator | Bengalis |
| Motive | Anti-Bihari sentiment |
In March 1972, thousands of ethnic Bihari civilians in Khulna, Bangladesh were massacred by Bengali mobs in various attacks and mass killings carried out over a period of days.[1][2][3] Bihari civilians, including women, children, and workers in jute mills, were massacred by Bengali mobs wielding knives and machetes, and their homes were set on fire.[4][5] Estimates of the death toll range from 1,000 to several thousand Biharis massacred by Bengali mobs wielding knives and machetes; survivors of the massacre have reported a death toll of up to 25,000 victims.[6][7][8] Many of the bodies of the dead were thrown into the Bhairab River.[5]
The massacres in Khulna took place during the rule of Prime Minister Mujibur Rahman following the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971 as part of a broader wave of anti-Bihari riots and massacres in the 1970s in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), as Biharis generally supported Pakistan in the 1971 Indo–Pakistani war.[9][10]
See also
References
- ↑ Whitaker, Ben; Guest, Iain; Ennals, David (1 July 1982). "The Biharis In Bangladesh" (PDF). Minority Rights Group (4th ed.). p. 16. ISBN 9780903114981. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
At Khulna, the second port of Bangladesh, some 60,000 Biharis were situated. It was at Khulna that the most serious recent killing took place. More than one thousand Biharis were reported to have been killed on 10 March 1972 - allegedly at the instigation of militant students following an incident involving an agent provocateur.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link) - ↑ "Biharis slain in Bangladesh". The Rocky Mountain News. Vol. 113, no. 327. UPI. 14 March 1972. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
Hundreds of Biharis in the city of Khulna in southern Bangladesh were massacred this weekend, according to reliable reports Monday.
- ↑ Ranjan, Amit; Hashmi, Taj; Abbas, Mazhar, eds. (2024). The Aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971: Enduring Impact. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781003463627.
The toll in Khulna alone reached 1,000 on 10 March 1972.
- ↑ Jacob, Frank, ed. (2019). Genocide and Mass Violence in Asia. Vol. 1. De Gruyter Oldenbourg. p. 30. ISBN 9783110659054.
Long after the end of the war, on 10 March 1972, thousands of Biharis, including women and children, fell victim to another mass attack by Bengali civilians.
- 1 2 Rid, Saeed Ahmed; Sodhar, Muhammad Qasim (2024). "The Opposing Narratives on Repatriation, Resettlement, and Citizenship of Bihari Muslims in Pakistan after the 1971 War". The Aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971: Enduring Impact. ISBN 9781003463627.
On March 17, 1972, the New York Times reported one such massacre in a Bihari colony in Khulna known as Khalishpur, where Bihari houses were set on fire and several thousand Biharis were killed in revenge and thrown into the Bhairab River.
- ↑ Hashmi, Taj (2022). "Problematic Integration of Minorities: A Case Study of Bihari Muslims". Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021. Springer Nature. p. 259. ISBN 9783030971588.
The toll in Khulna alone reached 1000 on 10 March 1972.
- ↑ Bose, Sarmila (1 April 2011). Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War. C. Hurst & Co. p. 159. ISBN 9781849040495.
Almost a year to the day after Bihari men, women and children had been massacred by Bengalis in the jute mills of Khulna, they were massacred again, in independent Bangladesh ruled by Sheikh Mujib and the Awami League." According to Bihari survivors, on 10 March 1972 Bihari jute mill workers and their families in the New Town Colony in Khulna were surrounded by Bengalis between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Bihari men, women and children were slaughtered. The Biharis claimed that similar attacks on non-Bengalis occurred in many parts of the country that day. Bengali workers at the jute mills confirmed to me that the massacre had occurred and that 'hundreds' of Biharis were killed that day, while the Bihari survivors I spoke to claimed 20,000—25,000 victims. A reasonable estimate therefore might be that several thousand Bihari men, women and children were killed in the massacre.
- ↑ Times, Bernard Weinraub Special to The New York (1973-03-15). "Biharis of Bangladesh Subsist in Ghettos of Despair". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
One of the worst massacres took place in March, 1972, at the port of Khulna, where Bengalis set fire to the homes of the Biharis and killed about 1,000 of them, some with knives and machete‐like blades.
- ↑ Bose, Sarmila (8 October 2005). "Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971". Economic and Political Weekly. 40 (41): 4463–4471 – via JSTOR.
As late as March 1972, with Sheikh Mujib back and at the helm of government in Bangladesh, another mass killing of "Biharis" by Bengalis occurred in Khulna.
- ↑ Times, Sydney H. Scranberg Special to The New York (1972-03-17). "Bengalis Ashamed Of Burst of Revenge Against the Biharis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-25.